Hitoshi Sakimoto

Scarlet Moon Records and PM Studios have released the Superbeat: Xonic Extra Soundtrack, complimenting the the rhythm game Superbeat: Xonic released in 2015

The 15-track album is a compilation of music from the rhythm game. Artists from around the world are featured, including Final Fantasy Tactics composer Hitoshi Sakimoto’s Basiscape team, electronic artist and composer Shinji Hosoe (Ridge Racer) and his SuperSweep studio, trance artist bLiNd, EDM artist Steven Silo, UK synth-pop artist, Bentley Jones.

The upcoming release of Dragon’s Crown Pro for the Playstation 4 by Vanillaware will feature a “Royal Edition” that will include a three-disc soundtrack along with the game and other features.

Dragon’s Crown Pro will feature 4K resolution support, the entire soundtrack newly recorded by a live orchestra, cross-play with the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita versions (as well as save data importing), and both English and Japanese voices. Includes:

Dragon’s Crown Pro Orchestra Album (three CDs) – 56 of Hitoshi Sakimoto’s compositions performed by a live orchestra. In addition to string and wind instruments, the orchestra consists of special percussion and ethnic instruments.

We reviewed the Dragon’s Crown Soundtrack back in 2015 when the original version’s OST was released. Dragon’s Crown Pro “Royal Edition” will be released on February 8th and is currently available for pre-order import from Play Asia and Amazon Japan.

Lovers of the music of the newly-released Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age will be able to grab the game’s music soon, though in a particular format. The Square-Enix online store is currently taking pre-orders for a Blu-ray music disc release of the game’s soundtrack, composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto.

Published by Square-Enix Music, the soundtrack to the updated high-definition release of the 2006 game boasts a huge 102-track score, all composed and arranged by Sakimoto.

A comprehensive soundtrack that includes tracks newly composed by the composer Hitoshi Sakimoto specifically for FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE, and new arrangements of the familiar tracks from the original FINAL FANTASY XII such as “Streets of Rabanastre” and “The Dalmasca Estersand.” Released as a Blu-ray soundtrack, the music can be enjoyed along with remastered in-game footage generated with the latest HD graphic technology.- Square-Enix

Despite the need for a Blu-ray, high quality MP3 source files are included with the soundtrack, which can be ripped for digital listening. Previews for the tracks can be heard on the Square-Enix Music website. The Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Blu-Ray Music Disc release, along with a limited edition that also include a CD with the new arrangement music from the game, is available for pre-order and will be released on June 19th.

If you’re a fan of the Final Fantasy spinoff games and their music, then Materia Collective has you covered. ZODIAC: Final Fantasy Tactics Remixed is a 63-track mega album devoted to the music of Final Fantasy Tactics and pays tribute to the game’s composers, Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata.

Final Fantasy Tactics was released on the Playstation in 1997 in Japan (1998 in North America) as a spin-off to the main Final Fantasy series. Deviating from the roleplaying of the main series, Tactics instead relied on tactical RPG gameplay. The game’s soundtrack was first released on two CDs by now-defunct DigiCube on June 21, 1997, and was re-released by Square Enix on March 24, 2006. ZODIAC: Final Fantasy Tactics Remixed presents covers of the game’s music in a variety of styles with one hundred artists contributing, including John Robert Matz, Dale North, Doug Perry, Annie Rosen, Sean Schafianski, Laura Intravia, Jack Menhorn, Amanda Lepre and more.

“The Final Fantasy Tactics soundtrack was darker and more atmospheric than other Final Fantasy soundtracks. In some ways, that makes doing straight covers of the songs tricky, so it has been really amazing to hear the interpretations that arrangers have given each piece. Especially for the pieces where the original had an organic, open ended structure, it has been really cool to hear what arrangers have done.” – Stephen Robert Froeber, Producer

If you’re not a guru of the Japanese game music scene, then you might not yet heard of the group Basiscape. The group is comprised of nine composers and sound designers and headed by Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy XII, Valkyria Chronicles). Sakimoto created the group, along with Masaharu Iwata (Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy Tactics) and Manabu Namiki (Bloody Roar, Contra ReBirth)

Basiscape provides complete sound and music production services for all digital mediums including video games, television series, film and television commercials.

With our artists and staff carrying out projects of any scope and size, Basiscape delivers the utmost excellence in quality and creativity, while keeping with the usual tight deadlines of the industry.

The group has been responsible for a huge amount of video game soundtracks over the course of the past decade, including Odin Sphere, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Dragon’s Crown and more. The mobile game Metal Saga: The Ark of Wastes, the fifth game in the Metal Max series, was composed by Basiscape and Yoshimi Kudo (Tekken 6). Grand Kingdom will also see its soundtrack released on June 23rd by Basiscape and composer Mitsuhiro Kaneda. Valkyria Chronicles OriginalSoundtrack was recently released in its full orchestral glory as well.

However, they’ve been making the rounds on the indie game music scene recently. The recently launched Kickstarter for the indie rogue-like adventure game Death Story by Team Neko features a stretch goal which would bring Sakimoto and Iwata on to compose the main theme for the game, so fans can contribute to see to it the game receives a fantastic contributing score.

Don’t be surprised if you see Basiscape’s name continue to pop up in the near future, so keep an eye out for Sakimoto and his team on upcoming titles!

The soundtrack to the gorgeous PS3 adventure game Dragon’s Crown is now available for purchase on iTunes.

Composed entirely by Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy Tactics, Odin Sphere) and published via his own Basiscape Records, the soundtrack to Dragon’s Crown has been long sought-after by fans of the series and of Sakimoto’s other musical works, featuring melody-heavy and whimsical tracks. The iTunes release also includes 2 new piano arrangement bonus tracks.

We reviewed the soundtrack a few months ago, in case there was any doubt about its quality. (Which there shouldn’t be!) Out on iTunes for $29.99, the 3-disk soundtrack should prove to be a worthy investment into your game music library.

Basiscape Records has just released the soundtrack to the PS3 game Dragon’s Crown, much to the delight of the game’s many fans. Dragon’s Crown features music composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, and the soundtrack release has been some time in coming given that the game was originally released back in 2013. Though the game has had its share of controversy, it has a strong fan base and they are excited to finally see the music get an official release.

So how does this offering from Sakimoto hold up? Check out the review after the break.

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